Has anyone here been a member of Answerbag? Am I the only one that finds it atrocious?

Old, old news. Check out “A’bag” as a tag in the fluther search bar, upper right hand corner of this window.

Used to be there a long time ago. Tried to go back some months back, but I just can’t hack it. Way too many fluff questions, and most members are either really mean, or stupid asses. Usually both. And that includes some of the vets haha. As you say, it has a handful of kickass members, some of which I was good friends with, but honestly I have absolutely no clue how any of them can manage to stay there. There ARE good discussions and stuff going on there; but it’s much too flooded with crap for me to conjure the patience needed to find the good stuff. :(
Then again, one of my old friends from AB who was active here has absolutely nothing good to say of Fluther and its members. We’re all slags to other slags, I guess haha.

All I know about Answerbag is what I have read here on Fluther. Maybe we should send over Augustlan to sort them out.

I used to be in the top five or ten members over there in terms of points. Then it went to shit and I migrated over here with a lot of other people. AB is terrible now… Even worse than Yahoo Answers, which is a complete cesspit. Every now and then, I go troll AB, but it doesn’t really work because everyone there is so stupid that my trolling has no effect on them.

@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard dude I was totally an expert in horror movies haha

It’s old news, but the OP is a new face and thus unaware of The Great Exodus.

I was there for about six years (one of, if not the longest active members outside of AB staff) and my opinion… well, last time I gave an opinion of AB, one of the AB administrators took it as a personal threat.

@jerv GA, that sums it up perfectly.

AB is the only other site I have ever visited. I would have never known about Fluther if I had not heard about it on AB.

It’s fairly atrocious, that is for sure.

But to be perfectly fair, a number of the folks who gave this site some energy and color have either cut back or bailed out of here as well.

Maybe that is the natural evolution of a Q and A site-A particular way of seeing things becomes the dominant culture until a sort of critical mass is reached and the counter culture, tiring of the bullshit, sails off to colonize to the virtual New World. Or something like that.

Occasionally I still stick my head into AB to make a small contribution to the madness, and to see if any of the characters whom I enjoyed are still there. Most are not.

All the good people came here. :)

@Symbeline, nice! I think I was expert in typewriters, microscopes, and something else.

I was there, it’s now populated almost entirely by empty headed cretins with little or no social skills….bit like Cleveland, only much, much worse.

LOL @ucme!

I used to be an Answerbagger but like everyone else of quality, I left and came here instead.

I’m a former Answerbagger, and now I’m a very happy jelly.

Believe it or not, it used to be a really fun site. Many of us were very active, high scorers on AB, but the owners changed the format in favor of sponsored advertising, and they lost all the good people, most of whom came here.

@YARNLADY Yes, it used to be an actual community, much like Fluther. Then they went to a layout that even my non-tech-savvy wife felt demonstrated an utter lack of programming ability, the ads were more important than the answers, paid experts, and an influx of users that fell below the minimum standards of Yahoo and /b. When the /b-tards reject you, you know you are special!.

@ucme Please don’t insult Cleveland! Texas though….

@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard For some reason I distinctly remember you being an expert in microscopes, yeah.

Don’t EVEN say a word about Texas….

I’ve never been on there, but I did go through several of the threads on it a couple of times while searching for a new Q & A site after sodahead. The crowd on Abag seems like the same type of crowd that frequents AskMen, Lost Art of Manliness, and Yahoo Answers. I wouldn’t even touch it after the content and responses I’ve seen on there.

I was never a member, but Answerbag’s loss was our gain. Lots of good people came here from there. :)

@everyone (?)

Here’s a bit of my story @jerv I wasn’t nearly there as long as yourself, I got the pleasure of using the site at the cusp of a brilliant talent pool. Mostly every user was “good” and I recall a friend of mine using a dictionary to try and compete with the users there. The answers were substantive and the exchanges stimulating. I heard the hideous format change drove some members off and those who stayed were driven out by the morons who took over.

Can I have my moment to vent? I stayed there because some of my favorite users stayed (I don’t know if you know ergo step, iggypuck, Athrael, canoeguide, Thadeus Lesbotron, Stableboy, castrate, iwnit etc.) But now they’re part time and the questions I ask are never answered but are skippd over in favor of inanity.

I agree with @ucme and @symbeline they are valiantly rude at anyone who doesn’t “groupthink” and their answers consists of semi sarcasm (I say semi because though they’re wrong their friends still agree)
@jerv and @augustian
A friend told me about fluther and mentioned that this site is full of intellectual egomaniacs trying to outdo one another, I thought “perfect”. The negative reviews I got from the users at AB and the positive reviews I got from “good” members I made the jump and this thus far impressed me, the good members have flocked here.

Cont’d

Suffice it to say it’s a joke, I’ve had some recent run ins with the CL’s and “veterans” and they PB’ed me for vocally criticizing them. Quality doesn’t matter there but quantity, if you go there now the categories are filled with stupidity and you see the mods and “vets” alike encouraging it while discouraging scrutiny. I mean they’re asking shit like “ice cream or sherbert”, questions like “what is an electron cloud?” Receives answers like “do your own homework”, just pure immaturity.

I’m an intellectual egomaniac?? Who’d a thunk it!

Intellectual egomaniacs, unite!

I’m just a maniac… though people tell me I am intellectual.

@HolographicUniverse If we think a kid is on here asking questions that will answer homework questions, we will turn them away too, with the same instruction.

So. Did Sherbet or Ice Cream win?

@Dutchess_III

Understandable yet how does one distinguish between genuine questions and those prompted fo homework? Someone accused my recent question as being one for homework haha

Hahaha I’m sorry I didn’t view the questions but my vote would be Ice cream

Well, if it’s a brand new person with 105 points, it’s a good bet it’s a kid doing homework. If it’s me, a teacher, they know me and they help.

Sherbet has its moments though!